Documentaries and the Veggie Movement

One of the first times that I became aware of the environmental reasons behind the vegetarian/vegan movement was after watching the documentaries “Cowspiracy” and “Food Inc”. They are very popular documentaries on Netflix that focus on the issues in the food industry and its severe impact on the environment. These documentaries take second hand research, first hand experience and information from interviews of experts in order to get multiple sources about the matter. Personally, the visuals of the animals in their inhumane environments and the use of extreme comparison facts (i.e. the fact that it takes about 600 gallons of water to make one burger) really impacted me and my decision to go vegetarian.

I would love to incorporate information from the documentaries and access to watch them in my blog, however I know that a lot of times documentaries such of those can include a good amount of bias. For example, in “Cowspiracy” one of the doctors states that the only solution to the environmental issues associated with the industry is if everyone chose the vegan lifestyle. This solution is not plausible for many people’s lifestyles, income levels, or areas where they live, yet he fails to address any other solutions for the problem. Instead of suggesting the idea of meat reduction, they focus solely on everyone attaining the same vegan lifestyle as them. While veganism is a good option for some people, it is not reasonable to suggest it to everyone and could possibly make people feel alienated or helpless if they were not able to go vegan.

Besides the access to documentaries, I would like to provide media that shows the conditions and processes behind the animal industry and images that show basic facts to make the viewers think. I would also like to provide access to resources they could use to learn more about the veggie life!

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2 thoughts on “Documentaries and the Veggie Movement”

You have great ideas so far and I am glad that you are taking the time to recognize biases in your research. It’s important to know that you realize that some of your sources like “Cowspiracy” and “Food Inc” are swayed to the side of protecting animals in every way possible and therefore heavily push the idea of veganism for all (like the doctor example that you gave). The fact that you understand that a vegan lifestyle isn’t for everybody will help give your website more ethos, or credibility, because you aren’t just pushing one biased idea onto viewers, but instead allowing them to think for themselves. By viewing your website and learning more about how the veggie movement impacts the environment, people can take it upon themselves to make small adjustments to their own lifestyles or make a big change like becoming a vegan. I also agree that it’s important to focus on using impactful media that evokes emotion out of viewers because then they will be more invested in your movement and more likely to rethink their own dietary choices.

Emma, I think you did a great job of pointing out that there is often a lot of bias and personal opinion mixed in with these documentaries. I think one of the challenges will be finding unbiased information if you only look at documentaries, so if there are any blogs or websites that discuss the issue in a more neutral manner that might be a good place to look? I agree that the use of extreme comparison facts and further information on the behind-the-scenes of the industry could have a huge impact on your readers, just as you experienced for yourself.